Suggested Grade/Age Range: Grades 7-8

Activity Objective: The purpose of this activity is to have youth brainstorm ideas about masculinity and femininity and to challenge existing gender norms.

Materials Required:

• Three containers (each should be big enough for each individual in the class to drop in a small slip of paper)
• Small squares of paper (two sheets per individual)
• Venn Diagram drawn on board (or on chart paper pasted onto the board)
• Tape 

Prep Time: 15 minutes

• Gather all materials needed
• Label one container ‘Femininity’ and another ‘Masculinity’. Leave the third one blank
• For the Venn Diagram: On the left side, write ‘Boys’ at the top and the right side, write ‘Girls’. In the middle, write ‘Boys and Girls’  

Task Time: 60 minutes 

Activity Description:

 1.       Tell the class that today they will be examining gender norms by exploring what characteristics make up ‘Femininity’ and ‘Masculinity’

2.       Give each individual two small slips of paper and have them write down a characteristic that describes femininity on one sheet and a characteristic for masculinity on the other. Once they are done, have them drop the slips of paper into the respective containers labelled ‘Femininity’ and ‘Masculinity’

You can prompt the class with these questions: “What does femininity/masculinity look like?” “What does femininity/masculinity feel like?”

3.       Remove the labels from the containers and dump the contents of both into the third unlabelled container and mix it up (observe reactions in the  class as we will revisit these later)

4.       Turn the class’ attention to the Venn Diagram on the  board and tell them that together, you will try to place the characteristics onto it. Pull out one slip of paper at a time, read it aloud, and then ask the  class for feedback on where to place it

• Discuss any disagreements that may arise
• After going through a few slips of paper, ask the class if more categories can be added to the Venn Diagram. For example, right now it says “Boys” and “Girls”, perhaps it can be further divided into “Some Girls and Some Boys”, “All Boys and Some Girls”, “All Girls and Some Boys”, “All Girls and No Boys”, “All Boys and No Girls”. Make further divisions in the Venn Diagram, label accordingly, and continue drawing slips of paper from the container and placing on the diagram

5.       After going through the slips of paper, have a whole class discussion around these questions:

• Did you feel limited with the “masculine” and “femininine” containers? What happened to characteristics we wanted to place in both?
• What did you find challenging and/or surprising when trying to place feminine and masculine characteristics onto the Venn Diagram divided into “Boys” and “Girls”?
• How can gender norms affect what we do and how we think of ourselves?
• Why do you think norms exist if they are sometimes false or feel restrictive?
• How did it feel when the two containers were combined? What does it feel like when we challenge or take apart gender norms?
• How can we challenge gender norms?
• What are the hardest gender norms to challenge and why? What can we do to challenge them anyway?

6.       To consolidate learning from this activity, make sure to emphasize these key messages:

• All people, regardless of whether they identify as male, female, or anything else, have feminine and masculine characteristics
• Gender norms restrict us from expressing our feminine and masculine characteristics depending on which gender we identify with
• Gender and gender identity are on continuums and can be constantly changing – we may have a diversity of identities and ways of expressing ourselves
• It is important to be aware of the gender norms that restrict us and to collectively challenge them  

Activity Extensions:

Have youth write personal journal reflections about the gender norm(s) that they most want to challenge and whether they have tried to and their experience with it

Additional Comments:

Activity adapted from: Zook, M., Chan, K.B.K., Chabot, F., & Neron, B. (2017). Beyond the basics: A resource for educators on sexuality and sexual health. Ottawa: Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights.